My first point to stress would be to NOT, and I repeat NOT, enter the country by train. I made this mistake coming from Estonia. The border guards took about one and a half hours to thoroughly search the train at 3am, and I was, not to put too fine a point on it, terrified.
But once you're there, it's a fantastic city. The beauty is unsurpassed. It reminds you that there are some things in the world that hold the power to truly amaze. The Winter Palace is one such thing.
I must have spent, perhaps, 2 full days wandering around this art collection from heaven. Every hour or so, I would think that I had exhausted that floor, or wing, and then I would round a corner to discover a whole room full of Picassos, for example - completely hidden. It was a treasure hunt paradise. All this, in an astonishingly huge and ornate building.
The Winter Palace is located on the Nevsky Prospekt, essentially the high street of St Petersburg. You will probably spend ALL your time here - we certainly did. Despite its beauty, it also rubs in the fact that Russia is very much a country of rich and poor. In the underpasses, peasant women would beg for you to buy, say, one odd shoe, or 3 year old torn back issues of Time magazine. Meanwhile, BMWs would drive by, with Russia's new elite on board. You must have a hard heart to experience this - because we saw one kindly tourist have her handbag snatched when she attempted to give some money to a beggar.
We stayed in the Hotel Moskva, located at the other end of the (long) Prospekt. It's what might generously be called a 2 star hotel, but wasn't too bad. The main thing to worry about is random people off the street wandering through the corridors, presumably looking for an opportunistic burglary chance. Apparently all main hotels are like this - you just keep your eyes open.
Overall, it's not quite the sophisticated Western destination just yet, but with the smallest modicum of streetwise-ness, you'll have an amazing time there.
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Advantages: so much to see and do, fabulous architecture, the Hermitage, boat tours round the city Disadvantages: need to purify your water - apart from that, NONE!
weebagpuss 29.04.2001 (04.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of St. Petersburg (Russia)
Advantages: so much to see and do, fabulous architecture, the Hermitage, boat tours round the city Disadvantages: need to purify your water - apart from that, NONE!
weebagpuss 29.04.2001 (04.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of St. Petersburg (Russia)
Nov 13th, 2000
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